I evoke waking up every 5 minutes checking my blue IPod to see the time. Every time I woke up I would look outside my gelid, frosted window and see the sky darken to a faint violent. As the sky lightens, I would awaken even more. Just as the clock hit 7:30 A.M. sharp my alarm went off, “beep, beep, beep” desiring that I had gotten more sleep. I had opened my eyes like I had 50 cups of coffee, and jumping out of bed like a deer running from its predator.…
I was handing out food with Herb at the closed down grocery store. The power outage was really taking its toll. Then in somewhat of a flash we both found ourselves on the first episode of season 19, on my favorite show Survivor! “Umm… is it just me or did we not sign up for this?” exclaimed Herb in a shocked voice. I wasn’t really sure either.…
Moving Again Have you ever moved schools? Have you lost friends? Well it really stinks. Moving schools have affected me for lots of reasons, but I am getting better.…
The pain began slowly, pricking me with its sharp needles only while doing barre in ballet once a week. I ignored it, believing it to be normal, common discomfort that would soon go away, typical thoughts of a dancer whose entire sport is centered around “good pain”. Six months later, it had escalated to the degree that every step I took felt like an arrow to my knee. Dancing had become impossible, and it was determined that I should be taken to the orthopedist. The bland, brown and beige lobby became extraordinarily familiar as I waited two hours to be examined.…
Okay, that was really weird and I don't understand anything. We were waiting to talk to you, my mother wanted to apologize for having moved away, she was not feeling well, it was too hot in the middle of all those people. We were talking about calling you into a cafe when we turned you were leaving the room with a couple. As I said understand anything.…
The little plastic card with my picture, my date of birth, and my address helps me remember a few things. The picture of myself reminds me that I am my own person and that no one is in control of my life decisions. The birthday printed on the card reminds myself that I am alive I have purpose and I have to strive hard to reach it. Lastly my address reminds me that family is forever and that I will always have a home to return to.…
Hope and Success Through all of the struggle with my son’s condition , when I look back on all the great progress he has made, it strikes me how much he has achieved, much more than I ever imagined at the beginning of my journey with ASD. I am so proud of my son for his efforts and accomplishments, and although he still has his challenges, he is an extremely intelligent, smart, caring and loving boy. He has great talents that only now other people start to see as well, such as an amazing talents in art, engineer, math, and other creative abilities. I keep focusing on my son’s strengths, helping and encourage him to develop these strengths.…
It is the morning of July 4th, 2008: I groan as my mother gently whispers, “teneshi yene mar (Get up honey)”. Struggling I open my eyes and notice the trembling cabin, I turn to my mother with a look of concern and she reaches out her hand and squeezes my own looking up at me, “we are going to be okay Mar”. A couple of moments later our plane has landed, we gather up our belongings and make our way towards the exit filled with people attached to their screens and MP3 players. The airport is filled with an undercurrent of anticipation, impatience, and boredom; bodies scramble back and forth from one gate to another. My mother, attempting to balance three children, clasps my hand, holds my little brother to her waist and calls back to my older…
Losing someone you watched suffer in their last days on earth doesn’t feel anything like losing a friend that was your age who had their whole life ahead of them, and losing both in less than a 2 month span doesn’t help either. The year of 2013 wasn’t the best year for me nor any of my classmates. For me it actually started when I was in the seventh grade, my mom received the rights to take care of my ill grandfather (her father). Turns out he was suffering from early age dementia; caused from drinking at an early age which happened to be 12.…
More like wetting my pants at first sight. The time that I fought the Griever honestly I didn’t know what the outcome of the fight would be. I was absolutely terror-stricken. The Griever was like a giant robot from your worst nightmares. It terrorized me with its shears and gears and its clicking and whirring noises.…
Bah! Ouch! “Why would you shoot my face!?” My brother and I were outside playing with dirt and Nerf Guns. It was mid afternoon a windy summer day, when we heard hollering inside the house.…
Thriving Through Adversity Growing up, as the oldest of three girls, I soon developed a sense of entitlement that, in the years to come, I would find did not suit me well. Fortified by the nurturing nature of my mother, I, being the strong willed, independent, and self righteous child I was, found that the ebb and flow needed in aiding the fresh wounds left by the separation of my parents was far less attainable than the easily reachable strategy, that I oftentimes fell back on, known as distancing myself from all that made me feel vulnerable. Not having a strong father figure in my life has helped to shape me not only as a student, a writer, a daughter, or a sister, but a person. Most would view this situation negatively but I choose to…
Going back over my fifth grade notebooks has not once failed to make me laugh and cringe at my boy troubles and lists of cute boys in my class. I love words. I love reading them, writing them and interpreting them. Through all phases of life, I had a usual nature to try and write my feelings down and call it art, even if it were scribbles on a Post-It note. Same goes for the song stanzas I wrote in seventh grade that were really loosely based on a Taylor Swift song and are still relatable today.…
A time in my life when I had to overcome adversity was when I was in the second, third, and fourth grade. Everybody used to say I look like a boy and I have a deep voice for a girl. I was used to get so mad and be so sad because deep down I knew it was true, but I did not want people talking about me. My classmates would whisper, look at me, and laugh I hated it so much.…
“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” is a commonly used quote. I can honestly say I didn’t hear it from an upbeat pop song at first. But from someone more important in life, my father. When I was younger I thought the tiny scars and disgusting bruises was something hard to overcome. What I “overcame” was nothing compared to what would happen in January of 2008.…